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On Spanish ground - my plane from Philadelphia to Barcelona. | <><><><><><>
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| The Pyrenees Mountains - Along the route to cross over the border between Spain and Andorra. |
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| Just after crossing into Andorra I saw these familiar round bails of hay....and a John Deer tractor! |
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| This is a large dam just south of Sant Julia de Loria in southern Andorra. |
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On the interior side of the dam there is a lake-like body of water. I believe it is actually a river, but it is Andorra's version of Kinzua dam and lake (no boaters, though).
This is my hotel. It is considered an "aparthotel." |
Tues. Aug. 17, 2010, 11:30a.m. in Spain/Andorra (6:30a.m. EST) – Partially sunny and warm
Hello all! I made it here! I am typing this on a bus to Andorra from the Barcelona Airport. I’ve been in Spain for about two and a half hours: roaming around the airport learning how to call internationally on the pay phones (to check out hotels), exchanging dollars for Euros, inquiring about luggage storage, etc. So far – AWESOME! Everyone has been very kind and helpful. Before the trip I read that you could only bring 2 bags on the bus and I would like to travel in Spain over the next two weeks…so I checked into baggage storage. Contrary to the information on the internet there are TONS of lockers, at least 100. They cost 5€ per day. I would have needed two or three, so I checked out the hotel situation. Being with the Fulbright, the hotel was willing to give me a discounted room at 20€ per day. I decided to head straight to Andorra. This way I can get a cell phone, make travel plans, and unpack & repack my beach stuff into a small bag. So…off to Andorra!
On the flight I sat next to a high schooler, named Pera (Peter in Catalan), from Barcelona who speaks Catalan at home. He gave me some pointers and ideas as well as allowing me to test out my Catalan a little. He attends a school which is in all Catalan with only foreign languages, like Spanish, in another language. He was attending a basketball camp in the U.S. with a friend whose mother is Spanish and lives in NYC. Every summer they visit each other and practice basketball: one summer in NYC, the next in Barcelona – sweet deal!
First Impressions: Barcelona looks like Barquisimeto, Venezuela: a relatively flat city surrounded by small mountains. The airport is super clean, modern, and easy to maneuver. The buildings along the way from the airport to Andorra look like downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina: sculpted stone decorations, wrought iron balcony fencing, small shops lining the bottoms of residential buildings, etc. People walk calmly with dogs on (and even off) leashes and rollerblade.Graffiti adds color to many of the concrete structures.
Language: Catalan is everywhere in Barcelona! The billboards are in almost all Catalan with some Spanish. The radio has played songs and radio talk in Catalan, Spanish, and English.
Exploring Andorra de la Vella & Escaldes-Engordany: My hotel is near a hospital on a hill. When you leave the door, if you look left you see steep mountains. If you look right, you see a sloping hill and the beginnings of downtown. Downtown is hectic: people walking slowly with strollers and dogs making purchases of high end clothing and electronics. It is similar to the downtown area in Swansea, Wales. The downtown area is small and has almost solely one-way streets. For those of you who know me, that means I cannot drive here ;). It is filled with trendy shops, name brand items, and quaint cafes. It is adorned with fun modern art scultpures. I found a shop to buy a phone card and several to purchase a cel. phone. The lines scared me away today. I am pretty tired. It took 24 hours to get from my house to the hotel.
Tomorrow I am going to research phones and find a tourism agency and see what travel plans make the most sense for the next 2 weeks. I hope to do a tour of Spain or hit the Spanish riviera. I will keep all posted of my plans.
